Jealousy
By: pnaixrose
Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It.
It's been a few days since Kim returned from Japan's highly acclaimed Otai Academy. She was so grateful to be back, although it would take some getting used to the new dojo/gym. Although she had visited several times before, it was hard to believe that the Bobby Wasabi Martial Arts Academy had evolved into something so…popular. She remembered that when the dojo was still in the strip mall, how decrepit and empty the dojo was. Now that she came in to a dojo-filled place every morning, it almost seemed surreal.
But now that she was back with more knowledge and skill, she was ready to take on a more formal sensei position. Jack had finally been appointed as sensei by Rudy not too long ago. Kim decided to follow his footsteps. She knew she had what it took to be a good sensei after all. Technique, calmness, patience. She had those things.
…Most of the time.
"E-Excuse me?!" the blonde black belt exclaimed as her eyes ran down the list in front of her. It was after closing hours at the dojo and she, Jack, and Rudy were cleaning and closing up shop. She had been discussing with Rudy the possibility of becoming a sensei and he had consented, telling her that she could start by taking some of Jack's newer students since lately he had been swamped with the one-on-one sessions. Kim felt her face grew red with irritation as her eyes ran down each of the names.
Jackyln Smith.
Melissa Brown.
Whitney Maloney.
All of them. Every single one of them was…
"Why are they all girls?!" Kim exclaimed, trying to restrain her voice from getting high pitched and squealy but failing terribly.
Rudy shrugged as he mopped down the wooden floors. "They all asked specifically for him," he muttered bitterly. "Meanwhile I get stuck with Joan and all the other oldies on this pier…" he said under his breath.
Now Kim was not an unreasonable person. But since she had returned, she hadn't really thought of the possibility of Jack meeting other girls while she was gone, much less get all touchy-touchy and flip them over on mats. She and Jack had become a real couple only a few weeks before she left for Japan. And while she was gone, she barely talked or saw him besides those monthly phone calls and the few times she visited. She was so glad to finally spend time with him as his girlfriend the past few days…
…But she didn't realize he was having one-on-one sessions with other girls all this time!
Fuming, she saw the man in question enter the main room.
"All done with the locker rooms, Rudy," Jack called as he walked by. "What else needs to be done?"
Kim stalked towards him, eyes flaring and hands crossed in front of her. "I'll tell you what else needs to be done, Jack Brewer!"
His eyebrows knitted in confusion, he dropped the rags on the floor and received the sheet of paper that she shoved into his face. "My students need to be done?"
She let out a dramatic scoff. "Oh yeah? And just how many have you done, Jackson?
He raised his eyebrow in complete confusion. "Kim, what is going on-"
"She's mad that they're all girls, dude," Rudy explained from across the room. Not helpful at all. Typical Rudy.
Jack looked at the enraged petite blonde in front of him. "What?! Kim, I have no control over that! It's not my fault!"
"Oh yeah? Then why didn't you at least tell me?"
He sheepishly looked around the room unless he settled his eyes on his bare toes. "…because I knew you'd get mad…?"
"Give some of your students to Rudy!" Kim demanded.
Rudy immediately came by, mop in hand. "Oh yes, please do." He was duly ignored.
"What?! I can't do that! We have a student-sensei bond!" Jack protested. "Some of them I've been with for months now-"
"Are they pretty?" she suddenly asked. It seemed that she had come to the point where she completely blocked out all of his words.
Jack let out a scoff, throwing his arms in the air in frustration. "Kim! You're being crazy and jealous!"
"I'm not jealous! I'm just mad because you think that they're pretty!"
He rolled his eyes in response and threw his fingers through his hair. "You can't just tell me what to do now that you're back, Kim! You're getting upset over nothing! Nothing has happened! And I have no control over who picks me to be their sensei!"
Rudy gave a slight shrug, continuing with the mopping just a few feet away. "…it's not much of a surprise actually. Everyone came flooding in after you did those classes shirtless-"
Jack glared at him incredulously. "Dude! Not helping!"
But Kim was already sending mental daggers his way. "You do classes…shirtless?"
"Yes...but o-only when it's really hot out and when we're doing classes outside on the pier and-"
Kim sneered with anger as she turned on her heel heading towards the juice bar where she had left her gym bag. "Well then, I'm not surprised. Otherwise you wouldn't be getting students at all," she commented under her breath.
The statement perked Jack's ear up as he followed her towards the juice bar. "Um, excuse me? Are you implying that I only have students because of my looks and not my skill a sensei?"
She turned back to him, arms crossed. "You said it, not me."
"Th-That is offensive and totally untrue!" he sputtered, equally as peeved. "I'm an amazing sensei! I can't help that I have a good set of hair and the entire package too!" He indicated to his face and body at which Kim rolled her eyes. He'll never change with his not-so-subtle ego.
"I bet I can get more students – of either gender – than you by the end of the week."
He laughed mockingly. "Oh yeah? Deal! Loser has to pick up the other's cleaning duty for a month!"
"Deal!" she replied, stalking away towards the door without a goodbye.
"Am I still picking you up at ten for the movie?!" Jack called after her, his voice still tinted with the tone of anger.
Needless to say, the only response he got were the doors slamming shut.
He sighed aloud, shaking his head at this ridiculousness. Leave it to Kim to make his life much more unnecessarily complicated only a few days since she returned.
"…I'm down for a movie," Rudy piped hopefully, his hand raised in the air. He shut up immediately and went back to occupying himself with mopping as soon as Jack glared him down.
Kim sighed aloud as she sipped on her iced tea before placing her glass on the sand. Right now she was sunbathing on the beach next to Jerry, both of them donning sunglasses. The sun was brutally hot today on this bright summer afternoon.
Kim and Jack hadn't really spoken past common pleasantries and small talk since that day. Soon the entire dojo knew about their little bet, including Milton and Jerry who unfortunately have the responsibility of listening to both Kim and Jack's separate whining about the other. Jerry had been getting so tired of it that he suggested that he and Kim sit out on the beach and enjoy the sunlight. Otherwise Jack and Kim were probably going to rip each other's heads off.
"What am I going to do?" Kim asked the fellow Wasabi Warrior. "It's already been four days and the only students I managed to get were the two cleaning ladies at Phil's and Joan after she said she was sick of having Rudy as a sensei."
Jerry sighed, knowing that the quiet sunbathing was not going to last long. "Well, you know how stupid I think this bet is…but to be honest three students within four days is not that bad, Kimberlita. Juss' gotta be patient."
She nodded. After a moment she leaned up on her elbows and took off her shades to look down at Jerry. "Hey, Jerry…you don't think I went overboard with Jack about him having only girl students, do you?"
Jerry rolled his eyes. "Of course you did! That's what we've been telling you!" Kim frowned. "Kim, you go overboard about everything!"
"Do not, take that back!" she yelped. She noticed some beachgoers spare her a look at her loudness and she sighed. "I may have a slight hot temper…"
The Latino scoffed and was quickly silenced by her sharp glare. "Look, whenever you get worked up about something just go ahead and do something you enjoy," he said. "Why do you think I'm never worked up? I'm always just relaxing and doin' my thang, you know? Get stressed about possibly not graduating? Go to the arcade. Nervous about a date? Go bowling instead. Got a big math test that will determine your future? Go to the beach," he advised coolly. "Just find something that you enjoy and let future you handle it."
Kim smiled at her friend's half-witted advice. As dumb as it sounds, some of it also rang true. She's always been somewhat high strung…okay a lot high strung. She knew that her argument with Jack was based mostly on her irrationality.
But…she couldn't help it.
The thought of the gentle yet strong and capable Jack Brewer having one-on-one training sessions with other women…picturing them holding each other, getting way too close to each other…
It upset her. It upset her because she knew how great Jack was as a sensei and as a regular guy. She knew that other girls had fawned over him even before she had left for Japan. But ever since she had returned, he had grown up so maturely. Standing at six foot ten with a strong, martial artist's body and that cheeky grin he wore that she loved so much…Jack was a catch. He really did have the whole package as much as she didn't want to admit.
Ugh. She needed to get her mind off of him.
"Okay," she said with a sigh, picking herself up and dusting some sand off of her skin. "I'll take your advice. So let's do something I enjoy."
"Finally!" Jerry replied, pumping his fist into the air. "What's that gonna be? Arcade? Bowling? Throwing pebbles at Rudy's office window?"
She rolled her eyes at his suggestions but grinned. "Lemme show you some new moves that I learned at Otai."
Jerry raised his eyebrow. "Here? Now? But Kim…you're wearing a bikini."
"Psh, so? Something that has always relaxed me is martial arts. I don't care what I wear when I do it." She looked at Jerry for a second, a sudden thought coming to mind as a disgusted look appeared on her face as she unconsciously covered her body. "Unless you…"
He sat up quickly at the implication and took off his sunglasses. "Nuh uh, don't even think that I would even think of you that way. One, Jack would murder me to a bloody pulp. And two, you're like a sister to me now so you lost your chance years ago, mami," he said defensively. "It's just that we're on a beach and a girl doing martial arts moves in her bikini can…attract attention. Why do you think there's so many video games with girls wearing skanky clothes? I'm sure it doesn't help all that much when they're drop kicking someone."
Kim rolled her eyes. "Not everyone is a sexist, perverted pig like you, Jerry. Now get your butt up."
Jerry sighed as she hoisted him up to his feet. He really didn't feel like getting beat up by Kim right now. It was his own fault for giving her advice on doing something she enjoyed to get her mind off of things. Stupid big mouth of his. "Fine, fine, I'm up…"
Excitedly, Kim showed him the proper position, placing her feet shoulder width apart and planted firmly in the sand. "The trick is to slightly be on the balls of your feet…" With a grunt, she pulled Jerry into a complicated headlock and used one of her legs to latch onto his so that he couldn't move. It wasn't long until his face was buried in the sand and he was furiously tapping to signify that he gave up.
Kim was giggling as she finally released her hold and watched mercilessly as her friend coughed up the sand he'd swallowed. "Oops. Sorry, Jerry!"
"Excuse me."
Startled, Kim looked towards the voice. Apparently she had drawn a small group of people with her move. She looked at them curiously. "Yeah?"
The boy looked at her sheepishly. "That was awesome! I'm assuming you do martial arts? Do you think you can…teach me a couple of moves?" The other boys around nodded their heads eagerly.
Kim looked at them carefully before she broke out into a grin. "Like…as my students?"
They nodded all the more eagerly.
Delighted, she squealed and jumped up and down. "Sure! Lemme show you a few moves right now!"
"W-Wait, Kim, they-" But Jerry had long been forgotten as Kim and the group of guys walked a little ways off for their first "lesson." He shook his head.
Kim obviously didn't understand the mind of a teenage boy too well.
…Hopefully Jack doesn't find out.
"She's just being so unreasonable, you know Milton?" Jack was saying, more to himself. "I have no control over who my students pick! And I don't blame them for wanting to pick someone as skilled as me!"
Meanwhile, Milton was been pinned to the mat below him, flailing his arms out in desperation as Jack seemed to have forgotten that they were in the middle of sparring. With Milton's face pressed against the mat, all that could be heard were his muffled pleas for help.
"I just don't understand why she's so jealous all of a sudden-" Jack realized he was still on top of Milton and quickly jumped off. "Oh, sorry."
Panting and glaring at his friend, Milton straightened his gi and rolled his eyes. While Jerry had the job of trying to appease Kim, Milton had agreed to try to get Jack to calm down. Boy, he got the worse end of the deal. He should've figured that Jack would have wanted to spar to get his mind off things. Not that it was working obviously.
"Look, Jack," Milton said with a sigh as he reached for his water at the edge of the mat. "She's a girl. And if I know a thing or two about girls-"
Jack looked at him pointedly. "Which you don't."
The comment was ignored. "-it's that they get pretty jealous about these things. Besides, put yourself in her shoes. She was gone for an entire year training with the best martial artists alongside some of the best martial artist students. Some of which were of the male species. You never once got the tiniest bit jealous thinking of her sparring and getting physical with some handsome, tall guy around her age, rolling around on the mat-"
"Okay, okay Milton, I get it! You didn't have to put it that last thing that way!" Jack retorted, covering his ears before he heard more. As his friend was talking, the image of Kim being pinned down by another guy, her hair spread out on the mat below her while the guy leaned down closer and closer to her lips came to mind…and it pissed him off.
Pissed him off badly.
Jack sighed, placing his hands on his hips. "Fine, I guess I never thought of it that way. Besides, I always just assumed she was training with old sensei's with graying beards…"
"Just talk to her about it," Milton shrugged. "She's just scared that other girls will see you as she sees you. Or that you'll notice other girls through the medium of martial arts. Excelling in martial arts was the thing that brought you guys together after all."
Jack nodded. "Okay…you're right, I'll-"
Suddenly, a few people pushed by them as they rushed towards the door, nearly knocking down poor Milton. They noticed more people – a majority of them men – leaving in mid training or mid exercise to rush towards the beach. Milton and Jack looked at each other in confusion.
"We heard some chick is fighting guys on the beach!" a guy said as he passed by, "In her bikini!"
Jack shook his head when he heard the reason for the commotion. "Ugh, are you kidding me? People are so-" he noticed that Milton had already left and Jack sighed aloud.
He wasn't the least bit interested. He had Kim after all and he doubted that she'd appreciate him watching another girl fight in her swim suit especially with the topic of their current spat.
Jack rolled his eyes at the crowd that had gathered on the beach. He tried to spot out his students and Milton to tell them to get their butts back to the dojo but he couldn't see anything past the crowd of guys. Pushing through, he was wondering what kind of girl was so desperate enough to go and cause trouble like this while scantily clothed.
"And then you put him in a headlock while grabbing his wrists from behind so he can't escape."
Wait. He knew that voice.
He finally pushed through the crowd.
"K-Kim!"
There she was putting a random stranger in a hold, dressed only in her navy blue bikini. Her right arm was wrapped around a stranger's neck and her left leg was wrapped around his knees in a perfect hold.
She turned at the sound of her name. "Jack?" She put some slack on the poor guy she currently had in a chokehold. Not that the guy seemed to mind of course. He relaxed his body and leaned into her chest a little too much while in her arms for Jack's liking.
The sight made his blood boil.
Without warning, he let out a growl and roughly peeled the guy out of Kim's arms, ignoring her protests. Clutching onto the other teenage boy by the shoulder, Jack towered over him menacingly, a dark look in his eyes. "What do you think you're doing with my girlfriend?" he said, glowering.
The other boy yelped in fright. "S-Sorry Jack, w-we didn't know Kim was your girlfriend!" Meanwhile, the crowd was already dispersing. The pier was familiar with the strong, unbeatable black belt from the dojo. Jack Brewer was not someone they wanted to anger.
Jack let go of the boy who immediately scurried away. Soon it was only the Wasabi Warriors left to stare at each other.
But Kim was not pleased. "Jack! Why are you trying to drive away my students?!" she demanded angrily.
"Are you insane, Kim! They're not your students! They're all just pervy guys who like having a pretty girl's body against theirs!"
She crossed her arms in front of her. "Oh please, you're just angry that I started to get more students than you because you don't want to lose that bet!"
"I don't care about the bet! But I am angry!"
Kim glared at him, eyebrows slightly furrowed in both confusion and anger. "You have nothing to be angry about!" she replied. "No one got hurt! I was just showing them a new move that I learned from-"
"I'm jealous!" he finally exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air in frustration and stepping up to her to look down at her petite frame. "I'm jealous, okay?!"
It finally quieted her. She looked up at him, realizing for the first time that he was riled up and red in the face from his yelling. Jack never got this upset. About anything. He was the most mellow out of them, was the most level headed. She never expected him to be threatening an innocent guy or screaming at the top of his lungs on a public beach. Unreasonable, hot-tempered actions were things she usually did after all.
He sighed as he pulled off his gi top and placed it on her shoulders, covering her. As he stood there only in his black tank top, revealing his toned arm muscles, he placed his hands on her shoulders and looked straight into her eyes. "Even though you were just teaching a move…the sight of you and another guy…wearing next to nothing…just…made me mad." He looked at her sincerely as she gave him a pointed look. "I'm sorry, okay? I realize now that I wasn't respecting your feelings."
Kim gave a small smile before she too sighed in defeat. "I'm sorry, too. I was going just a tad overboard with the jealousy."
"Psh, a tad?" They glared at a Jerry who was standing nearby with Milton and Rudy. The boys immediately pretended to be engaged in a deep conversation with each other and act as if they weren't listening in at all.
Jack grinned as he looked back to her. "Look, we both love marital arts. Unfortunately, it's a hobby that involves a lot of physical contact. We both have to learn that it means nothing more though."
Kim nodded. "I know. I guess I was just scared…I spent an entire year away from you thinking about no one else but you and when I saw that list…I don't know. I felt like it was just a list of potential girls that could be on your mind while I was away."
Jack shook his head slightly as he smiled and pulled a strand of blonde hair away from her face. "You're crazy, you know that?"
Her eyebrows knitted together and she was about to retort the insult when Jack suddenly pulled her into a long kiss. Her anger melted immediately as she felt his lips on hers.
He pulled back momentarily with that cheeky grin on his lips. "You're crazy for thinking that anyone else could possibly be on my mind even while you were gone."
She grinned and felt a thrill run up her spine as he leaned down for a quick peck on her forehead.
"So…" their sensei began as he and the two other boys neared the couple, sensing that all was well again. Rudy pulled a sheet filled with sloppily written names from his pocket. "These are the names of people that wanted to sign up for the dojo just now. Can you believe it? Any chance you can do something similar at our next demonstration, Kim? We can get that new equipment that we've desperately needed with this kind of business!"
Jack's jaw tightened and he motioned towards his sensei, intent on ripping that paper (and possibly his sensei) to shreds. Kim stopped him, rolling her eyes at Rudy's suggestion. "Are you crazy, Rudy? You're seriously thinking about finances at a time like-"
"Oh! Maybe Jack can join you! Both of you can be in bathing suits while teaching the audience some-Ooh!"
Midway through Rudy's sentence, Kim had let Jack loose and Rudy had started running. It wasn't long until Jack finally caught him.
"Think of the dojo's future-oof!"
Needless to say the Wasabi dojo's head sensei had his face in the sand while paper shreds floated to the ground around him.
I had so much fun writing my first Kick one-shot, Unfocused, that I had to write another one. But since my first one was super steamy and rated M, I decided to do a more rated T one instead. After all, although I love Kick, I also absolutely love the lightheartedness and comedy that Kickin' It always portrayed so this one is more of a combination of Kick and the sitcom tone that Kickin' It has. Hope you enjoy!
I was thinking of turning this into a series of one-shots. We'll see if inspiration strikes me again for me to do that. :)
